Lillian Gish

1 portrait

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Lillian Gish

by Cecil Beaton
bromide print, 1929
9 1/8 in. x 8 in. (232 mm x 202 mm)
Accepted in lieu of tax by H.M. Government and allocated to the Gallery, 1991
Photographs Collection
NPG x40158

Sitterback to top

Artistback to top

  • Cecil Beaton (1904-1980), Photographer, designer and writer. Artist or producer associated with 1114 portraits, Sitter associated with 360 portraits.

This portraitback to top

Having risen through London society, Beaton went to New York in 1929 where he took a number of celebrity sittings. Playing with mirrors, Beaton here presents an almost cinematic portrait of the actress. In his 1930 Book of Beauty Beaton wrote of Gish, ‘She is a magnificent actress in spite of her frail delicacy … she creates gigantic effects with a minimum effort.’

Linked publicationsback to top

  • 100 Photographs, 2018, p. 63 Read entry

    The silent-film star Lillian Gish (1893-1993) was born in Springfield, Ohio, and is best remembered for her long association with film director D.W. Griffith, as the star of several of his epics, including Birth of a Nation (1915), Intolerance (1916) and Broken Blossoms (1919). In 1929, having risen through London society, Cecil Beaton (1904-80) headed for New York, where he took a number of celebrity sittings. Playing with mirrors, Beaton here presents an almost cinematic portrait of the actress. In his Book of Beauty (1930), he wrote of Gish: ‘She is a magnificent actress in spite of her frail delicacy … she creates gigantic effects with a minimum effort.’

  • Pepper, Terence, Beaton Portraits, 2004 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 5 February - 31 May 2004), p. 36
  • Pepper, Terence, Beaton Portraits, 2004 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 5 February to 31 May 2004), p. 36

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Events of 1929back to top

Current affairs

The first election held under universal suffrage is a victory for Labour. Ramsay Macdonald returned for his second term as Prime Minster, and appointed Margaret Grace Bondfield as the first woman Cabinet Minister.

Art and science

Two classic books about the First World War are published: All Quiet on the Western Front, by war veteran, Erich Maria Remarque, tells of the horrors of war and the returning German soldiers' feelings of detachment from civilian life; while Robert Grave's autobiography Goodbye to All That, aimed to describe the author's experiences of the war so that they 'need never be thought about again'.

International

The 24th October 1929 becomes known as Black Thursday when the US Stock Exchange Collapses and millions are lost. The event was the start of the Wall Street Crash, which in turn contributed towards the Great Depression: a major international recession that lasted through most of the 1930s.

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